Still Fighting
by evieeden
Summary: Jake has been waiting for Nessie her entire life, but when times get tough, he questions whether he should keep fighting for her.


**This was written for SheeWolf as part of the Secret Santa Fic Swap.**

**I've never written Jake and Nessie before, so I really hope that you like this. Have a great Christmas and a really awesome New Year.**

**Still Fighting**

**JPOV**

I had been patient. I had done everything that I ought to and I had done it with pleasure.

I had watched Nessie grow up. I had played with her, sprinting through the forest by her side as we tried to outrun her parents; I had hunted and provided for her, making sure that she had everything she ever wanted or desired; and I had been there for her, supporting and loving her as she grew from a baby to a child, to a scary pre-teen and finally a beautiful young woman. I had kissed every bruise and scrape, laughed at every joke, calmed her during every tantrum and suffered gladly every bite of her sharp teeth that she had deigned to bestow upon me.

I had loved her better and more purely than anyone ever before in my life. Even my youthful devotion towards her mother didn't compare to how I felt about her.

Unlike Quil, I had never wished for her to grow up faster, so I could partake of the same kind of imprint bond that was shared between Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim, or, hell, even Paul and my sister. I wasn't waiting for her to grow up simply so I could get laid. I had cherished every second of Nessie's childhood, knowing that it would end too soon and that the burdens of adulthood and responsibility would fall on her shoulders a lot sooner than was fair.

A small part of me had hoped though...

Yes, even though I would never admit it out loud, a very small part of me had hoped.

It was all for nothing though. I had lost her before I had even had her.

And it was all because I was waiting. Waiting for a sign from her that she would welcome a change in our relationship, a sign that never came.

He did however.

Nahuel had crept in while I had been acting out the role of Nessie's best friend and swept her off her feet. He and his aunt, Pire, had come up to Canada where we had moved for a visit. Apart from his less-civilised sisters, Nessie was the only other half-breed that we were aware of and that always held a certain fascination towards the other from them both, so the two families always made a point visit each other at least once a year.

I had been around when they had arrived. Pire was twitchy, as always; I had noticed that the farther she was from home, the more nervous she became. Nahuel, on the other hand, was perfectly at ease from the minute he walked through the door of the Cullens' home. He had greeted the men of the family with a firm handshake, the women, including Nessie, with a kiss on the cheek, and me and the rest of my pack with a nod, which we returned.

We had left shortly after they had arrived to run our evening patrols. Although, we weren't obligated to protect the territory surrounding the house, it was habit for all of us to scour the landscape for any dangers to our families or our home.

I shouldn't have left her alone.

Later that evening, when I was settled in my room in Bella and Edward's cottage, Nessie had come bursting in, pink-cheeked, her eyes alight, a bright smile on her face.

"Jake! Jake! Guess what?" She ran across the room and jumped on my bed. I winced as one of her knees dug into my ribs. "Guess what, Jake?"

"What?" I sat up, eager to know what had made her so happy, so excited.

She spoke quickly, her excitement making her words run together in a blur. "Tonight, after you left, Nahuel asked me if I would come for a walk with him and mom said that I could, so I did. And we just walked and talked about absolutely everything and when we got to the lake we stopped and sat down for a bit. And it was really pretty and he said that I was really pretty and then he kissed me." She squealed loudly, the mattress springs groaning beneath us as she jumped up and down on the bed.

My smile froze on my face, the muscles quivering as I fought to keep them in some semblance of a grin.

I had to make sure that I totally understood what she had just told me. "He..." I prompted her.

"Kissed me," she finished for me, her tone exultant. "On the lips. Twice." She touched her mouth wonderingly. "It was so beautiful. I can't imagine a better first kiss," she confessed, completely oblivious to me falling apart inside only inches from her.

"I'm..." I paused, unsure of what to say. "I'm..."

I was dying inside. Every dream I had harboured for our future was shrivelling up inside me and all I could do was sit there stunned, with a stupid smile on my face, as my heart cracked at the thought of Nessie with any other man than me.

I was going to kill him. I was going to march right up to that house, break down the door if I had to, and rip his smug head off. I was going to batter him to death with his own arms. I was going to tear his lips off his face with my claws and...

"Jake?" Her voice, small and uncertain, broke through my thoughts. She was no longer bouncing up and down. Instead, her eyes were becoming suspiciously bright. "Aren't you happy for me?"

That was the question that broke me, banishing all thoughts of violence towards Nahuel out of my brain.

Nothing was more important to me than Nessie's happiness, and here she was, _happy_, and I was ruining it for her. No, I wouldn't do anything that would wipe that happiness off her face, and if being with Nahuel made her happy, then I would welcome the news of their relationship with open arms.

"_Jake?"_ Her questioning voice floated through my mind as she pressed her hand to my cheek, her green eyes staring up imploringly at me.

I forced myself to keep smiling, trying to make it look a bit more natural. "Of course I'm happy for you, Ness. Nahuel's a good guy, and you could do a lot worse."

She beamed up at me and I knew that I had made the right decision.

I couldn't help the tiny part of me that wanted to dent her enthusiasm just a tiny bit. "Edward might have something to say about it though."

"Oh God." She smacked her palm against her forehead. "I would ask you to keep it quiet for me, but I know he'll just pick it out of Nahuel's mind later and that'll just make it worse." She lowered her hand and I tried not to fidget at the speculative look in her eyes as she stared at me. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to talk to him for me, would you? Tell him that I'm not a child anymore and he doesn't have to worry about me?"

Was she kidding me?

Pushing myself abruptly off the bed, I caught her about the waist and threw her over my shoulder, ignoring her shriek of surprise and the tiny fists that beat ineffectually at my back.

"Jake!"

"Fat chance of dumping that on me, Ness." I carried her out to the living room and winked at Bella who was watching me with a bemused smile. "As much as I love you..." I set her down directly in front of her father and turned back to my room. "...you're on your own there."

I shut my bedroom door behind me and slumped against it, gradually beginning to lose my composure.

Nessie was so happy, so excited, and I felt like the Grinch coming to spoil her fun. No matter what my feelings were, however, I had to remain supportive; I had to be there for her. I had spent Nessie's entire life being her best friend; I couldn't stop and pull away now just because it wasn't me that she had chosen.

I would just have to grin and bear it, for as long as I could.

So that's what I did. I was the best possible best friend that I knew how to be.

I watched as Nessie left the house skipping every day to go and spend time with Nahuel and I listened with intense interest and a grimacing smile as she recounted what she had done that with him. No detail was spared – I heard all about what they did, where they went and what they talked about. I had given suggestions of fun things that they could do for their dates and consoled Nessie when she thought she had said something stupid or behaved like a child in front of Nahuel.

It was unbearable.

Whoever said that us wolves would only live for our imprint's happiness and be whatever they wanted us to be with a smile and a wave was seriously smoking something.

It killed me to watch them together, to see her laugh at something he said, or to watch him tuck her hair behind her ear when it fell in her face. I was tearing up the forest every chance I got – which was a lot more often than I would've liked nowadays – taking out my rage and frustration at the situation on the unsuspecting trees.

The nights when Nessie came home with swollen lips were the worst, and I couldn't even leave her then to work off my aggression because she had the habit of creeping into my room in the middle of the night and I had to be there for her if she needed me.

My mood was getting darker with every day that passed and everyone was beginning to creep around me. Half of the pack were avoiding running patrols with me so as to avoid my mental torment. Any time soon I was expecting one of them, probably Leah, to finally crack under the pressure and just knock me out to avoid my increasingly murderous thoughts.

It wasn't Leah who ended up confronting me though...

It was Bella.

I was taking my daily run through the woods surrounding the house when suddenly a hard body slammed into my side, knocking the wind out of me and sending me sprawling across the soggy leaves that littered the ground. I scrambled to my feet, preparing to take on this new threat head on, only to stop, confused by the sight of the vampire facing me.

She cocked her head at me and then waved her hand. "You want to phase so I can talk to you properly, Jake?"

I growled at her, but complied, laughing when she averted her eyes from my nudity. I was sure that if she was still human she would've been blushing as I tugged on my cut-offs.

"Okay." I waved my hands outwards. "I'm decent. You can look now."

She scowled at me as she looked over once more, her gaze was frightening discerning.

"Jake," she said quietly, "what are you doing?"

I shook my head. "What do you mean, what am I doing? I'm patrolling."

She rolled her eyes and I found myself getting defensive.

"What? I'm not doing anything, Bells."

She sighed in frustration. "You know what, Jake. What are you doing with Renesmee?"

"I'm doing what she needs," I spat out. "She wants to be with Nahuel. He makes her happy and it's my job to keep her happy."

"And what about you?" she asked.

"I don't matter," I denied.

"That's not true." Bella ran a hand through her hair impatiently, a surprisingly 'Edward' gesture. "I never took you for a coward, Jacob."

I had been avoiding her eyes, but now my head shot up at the insult. "That's not fair, Bella."

"Isn't it?" she demanded. "What happened to you? When I was with Edward you did everything in your power to get me to admit that I loved you. You didn't let the fact that I was with Edward, engaged to him even, stop you for a second."

I tried to block out the memories of my stupidity, but Bella kept on talking, pushing the issue.

"You continued to tell me that you loved me, you wound Edward up so much that he really thought that he didn't have a chance, and, more importantly, you let me know that I had options."

"What's your point?" I snapped.

Bella sighed again. "Have you even let Renesmee know that she has options?"

My body stilled. "What do you mean? She knows I'm here."

"But Jake, you've always just been there as her friend and her confidant. Have you ever let her know that you want more from her? Does she even know that you're one of her options? She's not ever going to choose you if she doesn't know that you're a choice."

I frowned. "I thought you liked Nahuel."

Bella bit her lip guiltily and then immediately released it as her sharper teeth dug into her skin.

"I like you more."

I laughed at that, running a hand over my head nervously. "I don't even know what I'd do to get her attention that way anyway."

Bella finally smiled. "Be persistent. Be annoying. Let her know that you're going to fight for her. Let him know that he's got competition. Just...be you."

I shrugged helplessly.

"I already tried that before though, Bells, on a girl I once knew. It didn't work; she chose the other guy."

Bella's smile dipped a little. "Jake..."

"Hey," I held up my hands, "it's all good. It's just been a while since I've had to think about that stuff."

Bella moved towards me and despite the smell I folded my arms around her in a hug.

"Well get thinking then," she mumbled into my chest. "You promised me that you'd be my son-in-law eventually. Hurry up!"

I threw back my head and laughed. "I'll do my best."

And I would do my best. Bella's little speech had given me the courage to try at the very least to let Nessie know of my intentions, and if I could drive away her would-be suitor all the better.

Five weeks later Nahuel was gone and Nessie was glaring at me. I, on the other hand, couldn't stop grinning.

The methods which had lost me Bella seven years ago had surprisingly worked on Nessie, despite her current irritation. First, I had declared myself, then I had interrupted her and Nahuel at every opportunity, generally making a nuisance of myself, and finally, I had made sure to very loudly point out all the ways in which I was exactly right for Nessie and why Nahuel was wrong for her.

And although Nessie wasn't talking to me at the moment, my main rival for her affections had turned tail and ran at the first hint of competition.

"I can't believe you," she fumed. "He was so nice. We were getting along really well until you came along."

"Then why did he leave?"

She scowled, but didn't offer me an answer.

"Maybe, he knew that I was perfect for you," I suggested. "And maybe he decided that he couldn't fight against fate."

"Or maybe he got angry that we were constantly interrupted by you whenever we tried to have a date?"

She was working herself up to getting upset now, and I hurried to comfort her before she started crying. I hated it when she cried.

"Nessie." I threw an arm over her shoulders. "Please don't be upset. I'm sorry I'm such an ass sometimes. Please tell me how I can make it up to you."

She stared up at me speculatively and then shrugged my arm away from her body.

"You really want to make it up to me?" She arched an eyebrow and I nodded frantically.

"I'll do anything. I promise."

"Great." Her smile dazzled me for a second before she bounced up and kissed me on the cheek. "Pick me up at seven then."

She giggled and ran off before I had grasped the meaning of what she had said. When I did, I could barely contain my loud whoop of joy. Obviously Bella was right – persistence was the key – and I was willing to hound Nessie all the way to the altar if I had to.


End file.
